WWF Warzone (N64) Review

Publisher: AcclaimRelease Date: August 1999

Background Info

Partially due to the increasing popularity of professional wrestling and
partially due to a lack of great titles for the N64, many gamers have
kept a very close eye on the developments and eventual release of WWF
Warzone. Now that it has finally been released and is available in most
cities, questions have surfaced as to whether or not it lives up to the
hype. The most common response has been an enthusiastic "Oh, hell yeah!"

Presentation/Graphics : 95By far the strongest aspect of the title is the astounding graphics.
Even skeptics of the game concede that the graphics are top notch and
far outshine the competition, namely WCW vs. NWO World Tour. Warzone has
a very realistic look to it and the motion captured wrestlers are
unsurpassed in quality. The framerate is a constant 30 frames per
second, even with four men in the ring at once. This translates to fast,
fluid graphics with no polygon popup which plagues lower quality games.
Great care was taken to ensure that all wrestlers in the game, including
the created players, look realistic. The variety of clothes, styles, and
accessories are noticeable and well rendered. As an added bonus, if you
beat the Challenge on normal difficulty, you get an increased selection
of outfits to chose from. The arena looks great, and with the steel
cage is even more impressive. Warzone runs in medium resolution mode,
and with the exception of the cut scenes, everything looks great. There
is a small debate over which version has the better graphics, but either
way, both are excellent and make the most of the console technology.
Warzone sets a high standard for future wrestling games which will be
tough for WCW/NWO Revenge to match.

Presentation/Audio : 86Altough the N64 is greatly restricted in terms of sound possibilities
(compared to the psx anyways), Warzone delivers quality sound in the key
areas. The most common criticizm I have heard has been "Steve Austin's
theme music sucks." In all honesty, this is a fair comment; however, the
crowd noise is excellent. While lacking in variety, commentators Vince
McMahon and Jim Ross (JR) offer clear and appropriate commentary
throughout the match. As the theme music is only heard for a few seconds
before each match, I would gladly sacrifice it for better crowd noise
and commentary. The crowning touch is the wrestler taunts. Steve Austin
will shout catch phrases, "Don't take this ass whoopin' personally, son,"
and each wrestler has their own unique taunt. If a player continually
uses the same move with no variety, the crowd will boo them and the
other player will be strengthened by the fan support. It is creativity
over quantity which makes Warzone a great game in the audio department.

Interface/Options : 88
The interface is comprehensible, if not entirely innovative. Without
reading the instruction manual, you can easily find what you're looking
for without effort, with the possible exception of the multi-player
mode. The menus and wrestler selection are very basic and, fortunately,
the create a player option is easy to navigate, although it will take
awhile to use due to the the wide selection of options and outfits.

Gameplay : 88Warzone shows a lot of innovation in the gameplay, utilizing a button
sequence requiring players to memorize moves before they can be
performed. The good things about this system is that it rewards the
players who invest the time to learn moves, and will enable them to
ultimately prevail over the button-mashers. Most moves are relatively
easy to execute and don't require a long sequence of buttons. For
example, depending on the wrestler, pushing left, left, and B will
result in a fairly punishing manouver. Each wrestling has one finishing
move, which take a little longer to learn. For example, Owen Hart's
sharpshooter can be preformed by pushing left, left, up, Kick and block
while at the feet of a fallen opponent. With a little practice, anybody
can grasp it, even if results in a little frustration early on. The
wrestlers move at a good pace, and the control is very precise. However,
I strongly recommend using the directional pad over the analog stick, as
the control is a little tighter for the pad. It is also a little easier
to preform moves; however, for those who really like the analog stick,
don't let me stand in your way. The sheer variety of moves (about 60 for
each wrestler) is enough to keep gamers coming back for more and really
adds to the depth of the game and the replay value. One thing that could
present a small problem is the camera angle. If you are not facing your
opponent, you could miss with punches, while he is hiting you. To face
the correct opponent, press the up C button which will toggle between
the opponents. This of course only effects matches with 3 or 4 players
in the ring at once. After a few games, switching the angle becomes a
greater positive than a flaw. What is also very impressive about WWF
Warzone is the variety of matches. Although the speculated Ladder match
never materialized, there is still the choice between: Challenge (a full
circuit to win and then defend a belt), versus match (self-explanatory),
tag-team match, tornado match (a tag-team, but with all four players in
the ring at once), a cage match (whoever escapes first wins), a gauntlet
(player must face six wrestlers, one after the other while your energy
does not recharge after each victory),the weapons match (a versus match
with weapons both in the ring and outside it), and my personal favorite--
the Royal Rumble. The Royal Rumble uses a slightly different approach
because if the player you are controlling is eliminated, you will get to
take control of the next fighter to enter the ring if there are any
left. All these modes are interesting and true to the WWF style. The
create a player option is in a league of its own and deserves special
recognition. Player customize everything from the face, weight, hair,
tattoos, shirts, shorts, boots, name, attributes, moves, personality and
even them music. This is where the true replay value lies as unending
combinations can be used to attempt to create the ultimate fighter.
Starting with 25 points to be dispersed through the categories of:
strength, toughness, speed, recovery, and charisma. By beating the
challenge, Royal Rumble, weapons match, cage match, and versus match on
hard setting, this can extend the number of points available to 40. Each
category is out of a maximum 10, so you have to really earn attribute
points or you may find yourself on the receiving end of the Stone Cold
Stunner.

Difficulty: 83As with most games, the easy setting is really, really easy. Even the
younger gamers will consistently win tie-up and will play without fear
of being hit with the dreaded Tombstone Piledriver. On medium
difficulty, the real fun begins. The computer player will win a lot of
tie-ups and players will often need to rely on their speed or their
ability to execute powerful moves before the computer can tie them up.
If you get tired of the computer's love of blocking, I suggest you train
like mad and beat the Challenge on normal with Ken Shamrock. This will
allow you to disable blocking which really adds to the realism. However
with blocking disabled, the game becomes easier and should be put to
hard difficulty. Hard should challenge even the most experienced gamers
for quite awhile which will add to the game's lifespan.

Overall : 88Overall, this is probably the best N64 game of the summer, and
definitely worth purchasing. Though fighting games are not my strength,
I really enjoy this one, and found the inevitable investment of time to
learn the moves well worth it. The create a player feature is brilliant,
making Warzone essential for all WWF fans. At the risk of getting a ton
of e-mails from angry Stone Cold Steve Austin fans, I'll admit my
favorite wrestlers in the game are Bret and Owen Hart, though you could
probably customize a wrestler who has the advantages of both. Unless you
are a die-hard WCW fan, I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for WCW/NWO
Revenge as Warzone has all the makings of a great fighting game and is
readily available.